Philippines

Indigenous Christian Churches

Iglesia Filipina Independiente

The Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Independent Philippine
Church), founded by Gregorio Aglipay (1860-1940), received the
support of revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo during the
revolt against Spain and subsequent conflicts with American
forces. It rode the tide of antifriar nationalism in absorbing
Filipino Roman Catholic clergy and forcibly seizing church
property at the beginning of the twentieth century. One out of
every sixteen diocesan priests and one out of four Philippine
Catholics followed Aglipay into the Iglesia Filipina
Independiente in those years of violent national and religious
catharsis. The Iglesia Filipina Independiente, formally organized
in 1902, thus enjoyed approximately five years of rapid growth,
before a temporary decline in Philippine nationalism sent its
fortunes into precipitous decline.

Many followers returned to Catholicism, especially after
Americans and then Filipinos replaced Spanish priests. Among
those who remained in the new church, a crippling schism emerged
over doctrinal interpretation, especially after 1919 when members
were suddenly instructed to discard earlier church statements
concerning the divinity of Christ. To some extent, the schism was
caused by Aglipay himself, who shifted his theological views
between 1902 and 1919. At first, he deemphasized doctrinal
differences between his church and Roman Catholicism, and most of
the independent church's priests followed Roman Catholic ritual--
saying Mass, hearing confession, and presiding over folk
religious-Catholic ceremonies just as always. Later, Aglipay
moved closer to Unitarianism.

In 1938 the church formally split. The faction opposing
Aglipay later won a court decision giving it the right to both
the name and property of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente.
Followers of Aglipay, however, continued to argue that they
represented true Aglipayanism. In the early l990s, those
Aglipayans who rejected the Unitarian stance and adhered to the
concept of the Trinity were associated with the Protestant
Episcopal church of the United States.